Sunday 20 July 2014 09.29 EDT
First published on Sunday 20 July 2014 09.29 EDT

Along with Royal Mail, the bosses of brewer SABMiller and telecoms firm TalkTalk will face the anger of shareholders over boardroom pay this week.

Britain's leading companies have already witnessed a number of shareholder revolts at their annual meetings this summer, including a hat-trick of rebellions against City grandee Sir John Peace, although heads have not rolled this yearm – the "shareholder spring" of 2012 led to the departure of several chief executives, including the bosses of the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and Britain's largest insurer, Aviva.

SABMiller will have to defend pay plans for its chief executive, Alan Clark at Wednesday's annual meeting. Shareholder advisory group Pirc (Pensions & Investment Research Consultants) advised investors to oppose the drinks group's remuneration policy. It argued that the maximum potential payout for Clark was "highly excessive" as it was far above the acceptable limit of 200% of his salary.

"The ratio of CEO pay compared to average employee pay is extreme at 138:1," Pirc noted. It also criticised the absence of non-financial parameters to assess executives' long-term performance in their share schemes as contrary to best practice.

Also on Wednesday, TalkTalk will come under fire for its governance and executive pay. Pirc called on the broadband and telecoms group's shareholders to vote against both the remuneration report and future pay policy. It said rewards for executive directors looked excessive, with the company's boss, Dido Harding, receiving variable pay equal to 1,255% of her base salary last year. That included a bonus and long-term incentive award granted in 2010, 40% of which vested the same year.

The investor group asked shareholders to vote against the re-election of TalkTalk's chairman, Sir Charles Dunstone, saying he is not considered independent because he is the firm's controlling shareholder with 30.79% of the shares. There are additional concerns over his dual tenure, as he also chairs Carphone Warehouse, a FTSE 350 company.

TalkTalk will issue a trading statement to coincide with its annual meeting. Analysts at Berenberg Bank have questioned the group's 4% revenue growth target.